1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator, in which a circulation path of cold air in the refrigerator is simplified for increasing an effective space of the refrigerator and improving refrigerator efficiency.
2. Background of the Related Art
A related art refrigerator will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. The related art refrigerator is provided with a freezing chamber 2, a refrigerating chamber 4, which are separated by a barrier 5, and a heat exchange chamber 6 in rear of the refrigerating chamber 2. In detail, there are an evaporator 7 and fan 8 in the heat exchange chamber 6. There is a shroud for guiding flow of cold air in front of the fan 8, and there is a grill pan 12 having a cold air discharge opening 12a for the freezing chamber in front of the shroud 11. And, there is a refrigerating chamber duct 4a in rear of the refrigerating chamber 4, and there are freezing chamber feed back duct 5a and a feed back duct 5b in the barrier 5 for feeding the cold air circulated through the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber respectively back to the heat exchange chamber 6.
Circulation paths of the cold air will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. The cold air heat exchanged in the heat exchange chamber 6 has one portion supplied to the freezing chamber 2 and the other potion supplied to the refrigerating chamber 4. In detail, the cold air is supplied to the freezing chamber 2 through an opening 11a in the shroud 11 and openings 12a in the grill pan 12 as well as to the refrigerating chamber duct 4a connected to a space between the shroud 11 and the grill pan 12. The cold air supplied to the freezing chamber 2 and the refrigerating chamber 4 has heat exchanged with stored food as the cold air circulates through insides of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber. The cold air circulated through the freezing chamber 2 and the refrigerating chamber 4 is fed back to the heat exchange chamber 6 through the freezing chamber feed back duct 5a and the feed back duct 5b, respectively.
In the meantime, as shown in FIG. 2, there is an insulating layer 1 formed in a rear wall, i.e., between an outer case 1a and inner cases 2a and 4a, of the refrigerator by foaming and stuffing with polyurethane which has an excellent insulating property. However, there is an insulating layer in the barrier 5 of styrofoam formed to a required shape and inserted therein such that the freezing chamber feed back duct 5a and the feed back duct 5b. In detail, a styrofoam insulating member 5c formed in a required shape is inserted in the barrier 5 in advance, and gaps between a rear end of the insulating memeber 5c and the inner cases 2a, and 4a are selected with a tape 5a. Then, foam is stuffed in a space between the outer case 1a and the inner cases 2a and 4a of the refrigerator, to form an insulating layer 1. The rear end of the styrofoam insulating member 5c is sealed for preventing infiltration of the foam liquid into the barrier 5. Styrofoam, which cost higher than polyurethane, is stuffed in the barrier 5 instead of polyurethane for preventing deformation of the feed back duct by a foaming pressure of polyurethane.
However, the related art refrigerator structure has the following problems.
First, the use of styrofoam in the barrier as an insulating member in the related art causes many problems. The poorer insulating property of the styrofoam than polyurethane requires to provide a thicker styrofoam for obtaining a desired insulating performance, which in turn reduces effective spaces of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber. The requirement to seal the end portion of the styrofoam insulating member for stuffing a space between the inner cases and the outer case of the refrigerator with foam when the styrofoam insulating member is used causes an increased process steps required in preliminary assembly line, that drops a productivity. Besides, the styrofoam is expensive, and we should refrain from using the styrofoam in view of environment conservation.
Second, the related art cold air circulating paths have the following disadvantages; the cold air circulated through the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber respectively is guided to a front surface of the evaporator 7 before being fed back to the heat exchange chamber, which results in concentrated contact of the cold air at the front surface of the evaporator, that leads to a poor heat exchange efficiency. And, the complicated path of the cold air to the refrigerating chamber with the shroud and the grill pan and bends results in a high flow path resistance, which impedes a smooth supply of the cold air to the refrigerating chamber, with a poor refrigerator efficiency.